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Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing pay in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA and Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing is $37,370 per year in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA. It is $60,070 per year in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA is 37.8% below Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-7042 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 1,010 wage and salary jobs in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA and 70 in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.